The management of antithrombotic medication in skin surgery.

Background: Approximately one in four patients undergoing dermatologic surgery takes an antithrombotic medication. When approaching the management of antithrombotic agents, procedural dermatologists must balance surgical outcomes, bleeding risks, and cardiovascular protection. Continuing antithrombotics during surgery increases the risk hemorrhage, but discontinuation of these agents may increase the risk of thrombotic events.

Evaluation of an interactive electronic health education tool in rural Afghanistan.

Introduction: Low education levels may limit community-based health worker (CHW) efforts in rural Afghanistan. In 2004, LeapFrog Enterprises and the United States Department of Health and Human Services developed the Afghan Family Health Book (AFHB), an interactive, electronic picture book, to communicate public health messages in rural Afghanistan. Changes in health knowledge among households exposed to the AFHB vs.

Basic health, women's health, and mental health among internally displaced persons in Nyala Province, South Darfur, Sudan.

Objectives: We assessed basic health, women's health, and mental health among Sudanese internally displaced persons in South Darfur.

Methods: In January 2005, we surveyed 6 registered internally displaced persons camps in Nyala District. Using systematic random sampling, we surveyed 1293 households, interviewing 1 adult female per household (N=1274); respondents' households totaled 8643 members.

Human rights abuses and concerns about women's health and human rights in southern Iraq.

Context: Although human rights abuses have been reported in Iraq, the full scope of these abuses has not been well documented.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of human rights abuses since 1991 in southern Iraq, along with attitudes about women's health and human rights and women's rights and roles in society, to inform reconstruction and humanitarian assistance efforts in Iraq.

Design: Cross-sectional, randomized survey of Iraqi men and women conducted in July 2003 using structured questionnaires.

Mental health of detained asylum seekers.

Asylum seekers arriving in the USA are likely to be held in detention for months or years pending adjudication of their asylum claims. We interviewed 70 asylum seekers detained in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. We used self-report questionnaires to assess symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The impact of detention on the health of asylum seekers.

Asylum seekers arriving in the United States are often imprisoned for months or years while their asylum claims are processed. Recently, Physicians for Human Rights and the Bellevue/New York University Program for Survivors of Torture released the findings of the first systematic study examining the health of detained asylum seekers. The study found that the mental health of asylum seekers interviewed was extremely poor, including high levels of symptoms for anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder, which worsened the longer individuals were in detention.